22 replies to this topic

[Mild Monkey]

DaZur, on 04 April 2012 - 08:40 AM, said:

Okay…

As I understand canon, all Mechs are powered by a fusion engine. These engines are rated in regards to power, weight etc. These fusion engines power all the Mechs functions, systems and sub-systems, to include the myomers, actuators, energy weapons and jump-jets.

To continue my thought process, I believe it safe to assume the different engine ratings should correspond with potential power output. With this I also think it safe to assume these engines operate at levels commensurate with the requite need for said power… i.e. a Mech standing in one place doing little if anything but looking pretty’s power needs would not be at maximum load, thus the fusion engine would effectively be at “idle”.

This same Mech moving at a full trot (If you can picture a Mech trotting) and firing all it’s energy weapons would then potentially be placing maximum load on the engine and as such the engine would be operating at max capacity. Same theoretically should apply to use of jump-jets...

(Whew!)…

Working off of all these grand assumptions…

1.) Should it take longer to recharge energy weapons at full trot versus moving slowly and or at a stand-still?
2.) Equally, if a Mech equipped with jump-jets use said jump-jets, again recharge should also take longer to recharge?

I pose these questions in regards to governing battle tactics as they pertain to energy management during battle as well as potential Mechlab modifications in regards to engines…

My experience online as will in my single-player games with the various MW iterations is that players (myself included) tended to play the game at full throttle… Rarely reducing speed for engagements and changing direction (In this we typically went full speed in reverse as well..).

a.) I think modeling engine load and subsequent management of your fusion engines power would be a great detail that would add depth to engagement tactics as it forces a pilot to take into consideration weapon recharge time relative to speed… Which would indirectly reduce the propensity of all battle to be at a full sprint.

b.) This also gives way to more in-depth Mech configuration management as availability of lighter more powerful engines might be a logical module to update when available as a purchase and or a XP grind-thing…

Just throwing ideas out there that might be cool / easy implementations that deepen MW:O so it can take on more of a “sim-feel” than an “arcade-feel”…

Maybe... and I am speculating here, the full throttle problem can be (or will be) solved under consideration of other aspects. Heat, as mentioned in this thread, being one among them.
Targeting might be another one; When running at full speed, it is more difficult to acquire a target, even when it is within LOS, since we will have multiple reticles, free sight aiming, reticle and weapon alignment delay and hit dissipation due to relative movement of the shooter AND the target. So slowing down might be a solution. Again, I am speculating here, since I have only a remote grasp of what the game physics will actually be like. Then again, it is often stressed in the novels that the targeting systems of BattleMechs are sub optimal (this is also the reason of the limited range most weapons feature, not the actual physical distance a round can fly under 1 g in standard athmosphere). Another related factor might be the gyroscope. This all adds to the heat management issue, reducing the total number of shots fired during a set period of time, regardless of the amount of energy the fusion engine can produce.

Edited by Mild Monkey, 04 April 2012 - 02:21 PM.

[Dayuhan]

armitage, on 04 April 2012 - 11:18 AM, said:

I think it would be an interesting twist if we had the ability to push the mech beyond the engines nominal capabilities. Maybe if you're trying to escape a lumbering steiner scout lance while in your battered hunchback so you disable a safety mechanism and gain an extra 5 or 6kph at the expensive of excessive heat and the possibility of failure. Much like the way MASC works but on a much smaller scale. Or perhaps you could send a surge of power into the weapons systems and get that one last alpha of lasers with a couple % more damage, at the expense of an amost guaranteed shutdown. I think it could be cool as long risks is greater than the reward making it one of those do or die last ditch options.

I could see something like this being a pilot skill.

[Ranger207]

MaddMaxx, on 04 April 2012 - 09:56 AM, said:

It was my impression that a Fusion Engine is an "on-demand" system and could provide as much power as demanded and the only draw back was the production of residual Heat.

As such, the Pilot could do whatever they wanted when they wanted, the power was always available but the Heat had to be allowed to dissipate or face some dire consequences otherwise, the main one being their own demise due to Heat.

While the fusion engine does provide a lot of energy, it generates most of it at one time.
In electronics, there are two important measurements- volts and amps.
Volts measure how much electricity, and amps measure how fast the electricity moves. If you have 1 volt at 10 amps, then you have a little electricity moving very fast. If you have 10 volts at 1 amp, you have a lot of electricity moving somewhat slowly.
Now, onto the main topic, a fusion engine serves to turn matter (usually hydrogen) into electricity. It can create a lot of electricity, but it can't push it out very fast. (Well, it can, but not as fast as needed.) A capacitor (like the ones that explode on Gausess) stores electricity. (So does a battery, but it's more like a fusion engine in that it can't push very fast.) Caps (capacitors) don't make electricity, but they can store a lot of it and push it out faster than a fusion engine. The time needed to recharge your lasers or Gausses is the time needed to recharge the caps and let the heat disperse from the weapon to the heat sinks (which then push the heat into the nearby atmosphere).

TL;DR: It's like this: let's say you have a water wheel you want to turn. (The waterwheel represents the weapon) You have a hose set to low (the fusion engine) and a good-sized bucket (the capacitor). You can either use the hose to turn the waterwheel, or you can fill the bucket and then use the bucket to turn the waterwheel. Now, let's say the millwheel turned by the waterwheel needs a lot of water moving quickly to turn. What you do is fill the bucket with the hose and then turn the bucket upside-down over the waterwheel.

armitage, on 04 April 2012 - 11:18 AM, said:

I think it would be an interesting twist if we had the ability to push the mech beyond the engines nominal capabilities. Maybe if you're trying to escape a lumbering steiner scout lance while in your battered hunchback so you disable a safety mechanism and gain an extra 5 or 6kph at the expensive of excessive heat and the possibility of failure. Much like the way MASC works but on a much smaller scale. Or perhaps you could send a surge of power into the weapons systems and get that one last alpha of lasers with a couple % more damage, at the expense of an amost guaranteed shutdown. I think it could be cool as long risks is greater than the reward making it one of those do or die last ditch options.

THAT is a neat idea.

Fameth Sathronaveth, on 04 April 2012 - 11:58 AM, said:

If Fusion engines are literally eternal never-ending unlimited at any given instant energy sources... then why would bigger engines allow for greater speed?

They aren't insta-power devices for two reasons. One is that you can only get oh-so-much out of a gram of hydrogen, and the other is that inherent inefficency prevents all the power generated getting to wherever instantly.

Quote

Concerning weapon regen time... there would be a difference between the capacitators [normal weapon recharge time] and the reactor supplying power that would have to be looked into. If the reactor only has z kilojoules of energy per second, and most of that is going to masc, speed, etc.. maybe weapon recharge time [not capacitator time] would be longer since energy from the reactor might have to accumilate to a level high enough for the weapon to fire.

No, because the fusion engine is big enough to power everything connected to it at once at full power. The engine couldn't possibly hope to directly power a weapon unless it was the size of an Atlas, so the energy is slowly accumulated in the caps.
Another example: you want this cool new mini, but it costs $10. You make $2 a day. (Remember, this is a hypothetical senario). If you save for a few days, you will have money to blow all your money at once on that mini.

Edited by Ranger207, 05 April 2012 - 06:11 AM.